 February 22, 2012 at 3:32 pm  Greta Christina
And while we’re on the topics of both sex and atheism, I wanted to point you to an excellent piece by Chris Hall, Why Sex Is Not Spiritual. Here are a couple of awesome pull-quotes to whet your appetite:
The fact that it is so very, very popular in sex-positive communities to put sexuality in the realm of the mystical by defining it as “spiritual” or “sacred” doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy; it gives me a numbing chill because what I really hear is shame. I hear people making excuses for their kinks and their pleasure. That so much talk about sexuality is wrapped in platitudes about spirituality, magic(k), or transcendence shows how deeply we’ve failed in being able to discuss sexual pleasure as a good thing in itself, without any excuses.
And:
All the paganism, Tantra, meditation, sacred sex, and BDSM sex magic(k) books and workshops represent a step backward. They are very convenient ways of rationalizing sexual pleasure by letting people claim that it’s about “something more” than just making your body feel good. All the sweat and cum and juices and the delicious, confusing carnality of sex get shoved back into the closet in favor of much tidier abstractions so that we can believe that we’re not just shallow hedonists. And that takes us back to square one, where we were told by our teachers, priests, and parents that sex was good — or at least acceptable — when done for any reason other than physical pleasure.
Read the rest of the piece. It kicks ass.
February 22, 2012 at 5:21 am Greta Christina
 Is there a useful difference between porn and erotica?
My usual answer to this question is that the distinction between porn and erotica is pretty artificial. It generally comes down to subjective taste, conveniently dovetailed with character and even moral judgment. “I like erotica; you like porn; they like filthy smut.”
But when I have time to kill, I sometimes amuse myself by trying to come up with an answer. The way I often frame it is, “If someone held a gun to my head and made me give a coherent distinction between ‘porn’ and ‘erotica,’ one that most people who use the words would recognize and might even accept… what would it be?” Regardless of whether I think one is better than the other — regardless of whether I accept the common verdict that erotica is high-minded and beautiful while porn is tawdry and degrading? (Or whether I accept the other common verdict: that porn is exciting and hot while erotica is stuffy and boring?) Is there a useable distinction between the two?
Here’s what I have, provisionally, come up with.
February 21, 2012 at 1:52 pm Greta Christina
UPDATE: The time for the University of Chicago event has been corrected — it’s now 6:30 pm on March 1 — and the location has been set, Harper Memorial Library Room 140.
Hi, all! Starting at the end of this week, I am embarking on an epic speaking tour. I’ll be in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Auburn, Alabama; Columbia, South Carolina; Blacksburg, Virginia; Charlottesville, Virginia; and in Chicago twice (once in Lincoln Park and once in Hyde Park). Topics will include “Atheism and Sexuality,” “What Can the Atheist Movement Learn from the LGBT Movement,” “Happy Thoughts about Godless Death” (possibly), “Coming Out: What Can the Godless Learn from the Queers?” (a new talk, one I haven’t given before), and “Why Are You Atheists So Angry?”
If you’re in or near any of these towns, I hope you can make it! I always do Q&A after the talks, so please come by and say howdy. Here’s the tour schedule:
February 19, 2012 at 1:00 am Greta Christina
The book is done. I just sent the manuscript for Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless to the formatters (the folks who format manuscripts for ebook and print-on-demand self-publishing).
I still have a shit-ton of work to do on this project: setting up accounts with Kindle, etc., creating promo cards, registering the title, some legal stuff with the city, etc. Most of which has to be done in time for the Reason Rally. And, in classically awesome timing, I’m leaving Friday for a week-long speaking tour of Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, and Chicago. (I’ll post tour details soon.) So I won’t be back to my full-on regular blogging and snorking schedule right away. But the actual creation of the book — the writing/ revising/ copy editing/ proofreading/ HTML/ endnotes stuff — that’s done. I will soon have my head out of this bubble, and will have at least one foot back in the land of the living. And I should be back to some sort of blogging by Monday or Tuesday.
Thanks to everyone for your patience. I can’t wait to get back to it.
February 13, 2012 at 3:08 pm Greta Christina
If you’re in or near Fayetteville, Arkansas this Friday, some hear me speak! JT Eberhard and I are doing a joint speaking event at the University of Arkansas, hosted by the school’s godless/ skeptical group, Occam’s Razors.
I’ll be speaking on “Happy Thoughts about Godless Death,” and JT will speak about “Reason as a Moral Obligation.” There’ll be snacks and social time first, Q&A afterwards, and then more hanging out. More details, including a map and directions, are on the group’s Facebook page. Come by and say howdy!
EVENT/ HOSTS: Greta Christina and JT Eberhard, hosted by Occam’s Razors, University of Arkansas
DATE: Friday, February 17
TIME: Snacks at 6:00 pm; talks begin at 7:00 pm
LOCATION: Old Main, Giffels Auditorium, University of Arkansas
TOPIC: Happy Thoughts about Godless Death
SUMMARY: One of the most difficult things about leaving religion is letting go of belief in the afterlife. What are some ways that atheists can find comfort and meaning in the face of death?
JT’s TOPIC: Reason as a Moral Obligation
SUMMARY: JT will explain why it is important for us to think logically about the world. The talk will encourage intellectual thinking, which is a fundamental part of being a skeptic.
COST: Free, and open to the public
Hope to see you there!
February 6, 2012 at 7:10 pm Greta Christina
I’m self-publishing a book — “Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless” — and I’m going to need a cover. And since I know there are talented designers among my readers, I’ve decided to turn it into a contest!
Here’s what you need to know.
The book is largely being built around my blog post, Atheists and Anger, in an expanded version that includes many more examples. That should be your main inspiration. Other chapters will defend this litany of rage and the validity of anger as inspiration for social change; explore in more detail why moderate, progressive, ecumenical, interfaith, New Age, and “spiritual but not religious” religion are valid targets for atheist anger; summarize the best arguments for why religion almost certainly isn’t true; explain and defend atheist activism and so-called “atheist evangelism”; and provide a resource guide for people who want to participate and take action in the atheism movement.
The tone of the book is fairly serious, but it uses a lot of humor, it’s written in my usual conversational tone, and it’s meant to be inspiring. It’s aimed at both atheists and at believers who want to understand atheism and atheist anger. I want the cover art to express anger, but in an inviting and inspiring manner. Humor is great if you can make it work without undercutting the seriousness of the content.
Text on the cover should include the title — “Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless” — and my name.
The design should look good as a book-sized physical object in people’s hands… and as a thumbnail image on websites.
Technical specs: I’ll need three different formats. Fortunately, the first one can easily be turned into the other two.
For the dead tree edition, I’ll need a 6″ x 9″ PDF, in either CMYK or RGB color, at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. (I’ll eventually need the PDF incorporated into a full jacket with a back cover and a spine — but the back cover and spine will be text only, with a summary, a bio, and some blurbs, so that shouldn’t take too long.)
For Kindle: I’ll need a JPG at 300 DPI, sized at 600×900.
For Nook/ePub: I’ll need a a JPG at 300 DPI, between 5KB and 2MB, sized at 750×1125.
Any art you use must be either original or copyright-free. (If you do use stock or other non-original art, please let me know the source.)
Contest submissions should be emailed to greta@gretachristina.com. It’s a good idea to follow submissions with a follow-up email, in case your attachment got glonked in my email.
Contest submissions must be received by February 15, 2012, at 11:59 Pacific time.
The winner will receive:
$100, paid via PayPal. (If you don’t have PayPal, we’ll figure something out.)
Ten copies of the book. You can wait until I publish the physical dead-tree edition (soon to follow the e-book editions), or you can get them in whatever ebook format I use that allows me to give gift copies that can then be re-distributed (I believe Smashmouth will let you do that). Or if you want to divvy them up, and get one ebook and nine hard copies, or seven ebooks and three hard copies, that’s ducky with me.
Credit as designer, with URL if you have one: on the back cover when the hard copy is published, in physical and ebook editions in the acknowledgements and indicia page, and on my blog when the book announcement is made (and, of course, when the contest winner is announced).
An interview on my blog.
The five runners-up will each receive one copy of the book, in whatever ebook format I use that allows me to give gift copies, or the physical book when it’s published, as you prefer.
Please email me with any questions, at greta@gretachristina.com. I can’t wait to see what y’all come up with!
February 4, 2012 at 9:43 pm Greta Christina
I’m writing the resource guide for my upcoming book, “Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless” — and I could use some suggestions. What are the organizations, online forums and support groups, books, blogs, etc., that you think atheists should know about? If someone wants to learn more about atheism, or participate in the atheist community/ movement, where should they start? Please provide the name and (if appropriate) the URL. Thanks.
February 3, 2012 at 2:36 pm Greta Christina
So I’ve decided, “Fuck it.” I’ve been wanting to write a book for years. My readers have been pestering me to write a book for years. And I bloody well want to have an atheist book out when the Reason Rally comes around.
So I’m going ahead and publishing it myself.
Get ready for “Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless,” to be published first as an e-book in the usual formats, and later as a physical book made out of paper and everything. I’m shooting for e-book publication no later than March 24.
To make this happen, I’m taking a semi-break from the blog for a bit. Hopefully just for another week or two, since the book is about 90% written already. (Although if Hofstadter’s Law holds true, it’s going to take longer than that. Of course, if Hofstadter’s Law holds true, then this, and every other task on Earth, will take an infinite amount of time and never get done.)
Thank you for your patience. We will return you to your regularly scheduled ranting as soon as possible.
February 1, 2012 at 6:00 am Greta Christina
This piece was originally published on AlterNet. Note: The college scholarship fund is still being raised for Jessica Ahlquist on the Friendly Atheist blog. Donations of all sizes are welcomed through February 29.)
 If you take away just two things from the story about atheist high school student Jessica Ahlquist, and the court case she won last week to have a prayer banner taken out of her public school, let it be these:
1: The ruling in this case was entirely unsurprising. It is 100% in line with unambiguous legal precedent, established and re-established over many decades, exemplifying a basic principle of Constitutional law.
2: As a result of this lawsuit, Jessica Ahlquist is now being bullied, ostracized, and threatened with violence in her community. She has been called “evil” in public by her state representative, and is being targeted with multiple threats of brutal violence, rape, and death.
Which leads one to wonder: What the hell is going on here?
January 31, 2012 at 1:41 pm Greta Christina
There have been a lot of discussions about Be Scofield’s piece in Tikkun, chiding the so-called “New Atheists” for being racist and culturally imperialist because we think religion is mistaken and try to persuade people out of it.
I’m more than usually swamped for time right now, and don’t have time to get more deeply into the conversation. But I wanted to point out an excellent piece by Frederick Sparks at the Black Skeptics blog — Be Scofield, Greta Christina, and New Atheist racism — which dismantles Scofield’s piece with surgical precision, and hands it back to Scofield in neat little bloody pieces on a platter.
I especially liked how Sparks eviscerated Scofield’s out-of-context quoting of Sikivu Hutchinson’s Moral Combat, revealing that Scofield either didn’t read the rest of the book or didn’t digest its conclusions — since its conclusions are exactly the opposite of the one Scofield comes to.
If I started quoting the best bits, I’d just quote the whole damn thing. But I do want to mention this:
I don’t see an either or proposition between advocating for rational thought, where beliefs are based on evidence, and confronting issues of social justice. The idea that black people should be left alone in their clinging to Jesus due to their history of oppression smacks of just as much paternalism as what Scofield accuses the white new atheists of here.
Go read the rest of the piece. It rocks.
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